Sora's Life: Game of the Year Edition
by Shinku Ryuuga
Summary: It isn't very often that you get to start over and remember the choices you made, their consequences, and the things you couldn't control. Is Sora's second chance, and subsequent ones, really worth it when all he truly wanted was to just get the girl?
1. Chapter 1

_**So, before you go any further, I would like to preface this with: I am using a premise inspired by Majin Hentai X's 'Naruto: Game of the Year Edition', who was inspired by Chibi-Reaper's 'Naruto the Videogame'.**_

Sora groaned as he sat up, bringing a hand to his forehead to try and stave off the pounding headache he had. It worked about as well as he could hope, meaning not at all. Looking around, the eighteen year old brunette found that he was in a black void, but it wasn't the one he recalled when fighting Xehanort's Heartless, or even the surroundings of his own heart. It looked more li-

_GAME OVER_

-like a video game... what the heck? "I don't think I'm on Destiny Islands anymore..." Getting to his feet, the Keyblade Wielder looked around as the big letters signified someone had lost a game.

**SURVIVED TO AGE EIGHTEEN: 180 POINTS**  
**BECAME KINGDOM KEY MASTER: 1500 POINTS**  
**SAVED WORLDS THREE TIMES: 3000 POINTS**  
**RETURNED RIKU FROM THE DARKNESS: 1000 POINTS**  
**RESTORED KAIRI'S HEART: 20 POINTS(1000-980 TIME)**  
**UNCOVERED RADIANT GARDEN'S TRUE FORM: 2000 POINTS**  
**SAVED ALL DALMATIANS: 500 POINTS**  
**CLEARED HADES CUP: 1000 POINTS**  
**CLEARED UNDERDROME: 1500 POINTS**  
**PARTICIPATED IN ARIEL'S SINGALONGS: 200 POINTS**  
**FLEW(40): 400 POINTS**  
**BEAT SEPHIROTH**(Sora gave a little grin at that.)**(3)**(It got wider.)**: 6000 POINTS**  
**BEAT CLOUD STRIFE, TIFA LOCKHEART, ZACK FAIR, SQUALL LEONHART, AND YUFFIE KISARAGI SINGLEHANDEDLY: 10000 POINTS**  
**STUFFED FACE WITH ELIXIR PIE(2): 20 POINTS**  
**SURVIVED MYSTERY FOOD Z**(Sora shuddered at the memory of that. It tasted horrible.)**: 3000 POINTS**

**SORA: DEAD, FALLEN TO MALEFICENT IN BATTLE: -2000 POINTS**  
**RIKU: HEARTLESS BY XEHANORT: -2000 POINTS**  
**KAIRI: DEAD, BIRTH OF HUMAN-HEARTLESS ABOMINATION**(that one got Sora to wince worse than Riku's.)**: -3500 POINTS**  
**DONALD: TURNED INTO HEARTLESS AND NOBODY: -1000 POINTS**  
**GOOFY: TURNED INTO HEARTLESS AND NOBODY: -1000 POINTS**  
**DAISY: DEAD, EATEN BY PETE: -500 POINTS**  
**MINNIE: DEAD, BIRTH OF MOUSE-HEARTLESS ABOMINATION: -1000 POINTS**  
**MICKEY: TURNED INTO HEARTLESS: -2500 POINTS**  
**HEWEY, DEWEY, LOUIE: DEAD: -1500 POINTS**  
**CHIP AND DALE: DEAD: -2000 POINTS**  
**WORLDS: FALLEN TO DARKNESS: -5000 POINTS**  
**KINGDOM HEARTS: LOST: -10000 POINTS**

**DIFFICULTY MODIFIER: 0%**

**FINAL SCORE: -1680**

Sora was a little shocked how the deaths of his friends were so... cheap! Seriously, that didn't seem right, and Sora was quite sure he'd throw up if he remembered any more of the events that went on... Wait, Leon and everyone were still alive?! Then they could keep up the fight! They... They could...

They couldn't do anything. The Worlds going, along with Kingdom Hearts, made the whole place implode. He should know, considering Sora had lived long enough to see Maleficent be the first casualty of her own scheme. If only he'd been a bit faster, hardier, stronger all around...

But, wait, if this was all a video game, then-

**UNLOCKED:**  
**Sora: Valorous Wielder of Oathkeeper, Wise Shooter, Master of Oblivion, Final Line Against the Darkness and Light, Limit Breaker, and Whole**  
**Roxas: Assimilated, unlocked Dual Wield Normal!**  
**?: Assimilated and forgotten, all gains lost.**(Curious...)

**Kairi: Wielder of Oathkeeper and Whole, Slept with five times: Female Sora Avatar unlocked, (Sibling/Betrothed) of the Seventh Princess Starter unlocked**(Well, there's one setting that isn't getting used.)  
**Namine: Assimilated, unlocked Memory Manipulator and Art Student**

**Riku: Final Line Against the Darkness and Light, Wielder of Oblivion, and Beholden to Truth**  
**Gave use of Way to Dawn ten times: "The Darkness will destroy you!" unlocked!** (Why would something like that be GOOD?)

**Leon: Beat ten times: Lionheart Starter unlocked**  
**Yuffie: Beat ten times: Shinobi of Wutai Starter unlocked**  
**Aeris: Taught by ten times: Healer Starter unlocked**  
**Cloud: Beat ten times: Fenrir Starter unlocked, Beat fifteen times: Can now find Omniblade in New Game Plus!**  
**Tifa: Beat ten times: Brawler Starter unlocked, Slept with once**(THAT WASN'T JUST A DREAM?!)**: Bartender Starter unlocked**  
**Selphie: Beat fifteen times: Stat pack gained, Slept with once (with one other): SeeD Student Starter unlocked(Twilight Town Resident Starter unlocked)**  
**Tidus: Beat twenty times: Guardian of the Summoner Avatar unlocked, shared drinks with twice: Brother to the Guardian of the Summoner Sub-Avatar unlocked**  
**Wakka: Beat ten times: Stat pack gained**  
**Hayner: Beat ten times: Struggler stat pack gained**  
**Ollette: Slept with twice(Roxas): Real Twilight Town Student Starter unlocked, Slept with once(with one other)(Sora): Twilight Town Resident Starter unlocked(SeeD Student Starter unlocked)**(Well, that answers the question of who the other was...)  
**Seifer: Beat twenty times**(Did it only take that many to wipe the smirk off?)**: Disciplinary Committee Member Starter unlocked**  
**Data-Fuu: Slept with once(Roxas)**(Man, blondie got around for only a week)**: Disciplinary Committee Leader Starter(Roxas) unlocked**

**Negative score: Worthless Sora Avatar unlocked!  
Bad Negative Score: Worthless Sora Avatar now worse.**

**Returning to title screen...**

Sora rubbed his head at seeing everything that he got, but he was curious as to why the other Disney Castle residents didn't get any awards... well, it wasn't all that important, it seemed, so no need to worry about it. For now, Sora wondered why he didn't get a 'Continue?' screen, since he was pretty sure his life qualified as an adventure game considering the stupid prizes and scores.

Sora brought his hands up to cover his eyes as he was momentarily blinded by the area around him became an expanse of white. Once the area's colors settled down, Sora lowered his hands and saw a... computer and monitor with a PS5 controller instead of a keyboard. The computer looked to be one of those Riku had said were made for gaming. Sora walked over to the three objects, and sat on... whatever the blackness around him was.

Picking up the controller, Sora was treated to a sight he knew, but from a helicopter pan, seeing as it was Destiny Islands being shown. The music that played as 'Sora's Life: The Game' appeared on screen was vaguely familiar, and calming quite a bit. It made him think of Kairi, of the better days they'd spent together. Mostly as kids, though, when the Keyblades hadn't manifested and Riku's drive to see other worlds wasn't so obvious. _'Must be the piano.'_

Hitting the Start button as the screen faded to start attract mode, Sora rolled his head before choosing 'New Game'. A prompt asking him to use an old save for a New Game Plus came up, so Sora hit yes to see if he had anything like that. Surprise surprise, there wasn't. Hitting the X button to go back, Sora selected New Game again, this time getting no prompt for New Game Plus, but instead a 'Use Default Settings?' Choosing no just to see what he had to work with, Sora went through the Settings menus and saw that there wasn't much to change. Why the Default Starting Age was five years, three months, and two days straight, he had no idea, seeing as he didn't remember what happened then. Evidently, someone did. The few grayed out choices were likely things he could change only while playing this game based on him.

Repeating the whole process, Sora tapped his chin as he looked through the open options. He could change what Roxas could be with the two Avatars for him, those being Normal, with an option of turning on Dual Wield under it, and R.T.T.S., which was the same pants and hair style, but Roxas was now wearing, of all things, a sweatervest. Shaking his head, Sora just turned on Dual Wield Normal, greying out R.T.T.S. to a degree. Choosing Master of Oblivion under his own Normal Avatar, Sora covered his eyes as he was once again blinded, but instead of just not being able to see, the eighteen year old also felt his body shrink and revert. His clothes quickly became too tight, then alright, and again until he felt something rather familiar and breezy was on him. Opening his eyes, Sora waved his arms as he fell out of bed. "AAAAHHH!" 'Thump' went a body.

"Urgh, too many ice cream sandwiches last... night... AHH!" Feeling his face, torso, and arms, Sora looked around, wondering when everything got so much bigger, like he was... five years, three months and two days old... oh.

"Sora! Breakfast's ready!" With a declaration that he was coming, Sora rushed out, wondering how long he'd be able to keep up a charade of being himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Age: Five years, three months, four days**

And now Sora knew why he was so young again. Just yesterday he had seen Riku talk to a giant of a man with brown hair in a spiky style, and they both talked to a pretty blue haired woman not an hour later. And before they'd gone back home after a couple more minutes looking up at the stars, Sora had become the container for another person's heart. A person that sounded VERY familiar, but wasn't Roxas... or the man Riku had met. Still, Roxas looked only vaguely like him, so maybe this other boy's(and that was what the voice sounded like, a boy's.) heart was why? For now, all Sora had to go on was some vague thoughts and memories that were slowly getting duller with every passing hour.

It was a mentally ten year old boy that went down stairs at his mother's call for dinner seats. She was making his favorite, after all, since he'd brought home a drawing he'd made in daycare that she said was great, even though they both knew it was barely legible chocobo scratch.

**Age: Eight years, five months, sixteen days**

Sora clapped his hands excitedly as Kairi drew his face on the rocks. "I'm gonna draw you now!" The brunet boy kneeled next to his redhead friend of barely a month, and started a crude likeness of her face. The drawing she was doing would turn out much better, and they both knew it, but it was the thought that counts, yeah?

A scant hour later, the two ran out of the Secret Place, intent on getting some swimming in with Tidus and Riku. Wakka was at Blitz Ball Camp today, and Selphie hadn't joined their little group yet. That wouldn't happen for another couple of days.

**Age: Fourteen years, eight months, ten days**

Sora sat up from his nap, cursing the sun as the image of a falling Darkside and the feeling of being trapped in liquid Darkness started fading even as he yawned and lay back down. Memories from a little over a decade ago were jumping back to the forefront of his mind though, playing out right in front of him as Kairi startled him and he talked about his dream. The log tossed at him a couple seconds later didn't knock him on his back this time, not fully since he did rock, so Sora stood with it under his arm. The conversation went mostly the same, and he dropped the log as the race began. _"...it's that time already, huh. Well, this time, I'll make sure things don't go horribly. I'll save you, Kairi."_

First, though, he had a couple things to do, like get supplies for the trip out to sea. Summer break had started a couple weeks ago, but the construction had only begun a couple days before now. Considering how well it'd been going, Sora had no doubt it'd be a really seaworthy vessel given another day. That in mind, he talked to Kairi, getting the list of what was needed, Wakka, who said he and Tidus would be checking out the door in the Secret Place later, Tidus, who was practicing his swings with a red stick, and Selphie, who thought aloud the story of a paopu fruit was romantic. Riku was on his own little island, lazing about after having done his share of the work.

Sora and he got in a few sparring matches("Hah! Now it's seven to five!"), and some Potions were handed over from the slightly more muscled boy to the sticky one. However, the real highlights of the day were in the little cabin leading up to Riku's island, and the Secret Place.

Walking into the wooden construct, Sora blinked at seeing a little green circle on the ground just inside the place, to the right of the doorway. He had always wondered why the cabin was so much bigger than it really needed to be. Stepping on the green circle, Sora got treated to a blue text box in his face.

[You've found a save point! These have several functions, like restoring your health, your magic, and balancing your Corruption Levels. Once the World Map is open to you, these are also how you go from a World to your Gummi Ship! Use these as many times as you like, they're free!]

_"Well, that's handy. Certainly gives a good reason for me to drag Donald and Goofy to out of the way parts of places so people don't go 'aaaahhhhh, aliens took them' or something."_ Sora thought to himself as he closed the text box and saved his... life. He blinked at seeing the level shown on his save file. "When did I get to level ten?" Shaking his head, Sora went up to go spar with Riku.

After that, Sora visited the Secret Place to check on the door, fruitless though that would be. Kairi wouldn't want the food supplies till tomorrow, but... No, no freaky guys in brown cloaks. Still, since he was all alone now, it struck Sora, as he bent to examine the old drawings, just what he hadn't tried yet. So, standing, the young man held up a hand and focused.

It had been nine years since he last did this, but the pull was still there. That one little speck that he knew was...


	3. Chapter 3

**Keyblade:**

There it was, in his hand. And yet... not. This must be the Keyblade used by that voice he helped and housed, since it was definitely not Kingdom Key. Or Oblivion. Or Oathkeeper. Or even Sleeping Lion! It was some weird, white one. Probably something Sleeping Lion could've been, but it wasn't. However, the name that floats into Sora's mind, voiced by the same young man as before, just seems to fit this ivory weapon.

**Lost Memory attained. Set to default.**

Looking over the Keyblade, Sora flips it a couple of times, finding that holding it upside down is awkward. However, a part of him says holding it normally is awkward, likely the voice's heart influencing him. A name will have to be found for that boy, but it wouldn't be heard for another couple years, Sora thought. The King and Yen Sid are just secretive like that. As it was, Sora looked to the door leading to the Heart of Destiny Islands, and aims the white Keyblade at it. Nothing appeared on the door, though, and while Sora felt that there was a connection between him and the Lost Memory, it was a weak one. Not enough to lock World Hearts just yet, apparently.

Dismissing it, Sora turned to go get the last two things Kairi needed for today. As he finished crawling out of the Secret Place and into the open air. Stretching out, the young man grinned to himself. The sun was nice on his skin, and the breeze was rather cool and refreshing after being in that stuffy little cave. Sora went to the cabin to hit that Save Point(**Game Saved.**), and spend some time sparring with Riku.

How Riku had so many Potions was something that confused Sora, but he didn't question it. Probably one of those things that would make less sense if asked about. Well, with some new bruises, Sora went to give the requested items to Kairi, after which the three friends gathered on Riku's little islet and leaned on the paopu tree. They spent a bit of time just talking about what might happen, why they were where they were...

_"Say. This is where I got the idea to ask Kairi that question tomorrow. Huh."_ Sora tilted his head as he walked down the bridge that lead to the cabin, and blinked before turning around. Catching the paopu fruit thrown at him, Sora looked at his silver haired friend oddly. As Riku explained why the star shaped fruit was tossed, Sora almost tossed it away before reconsidering, and putting it into his hammerspace pocket. He wouldn't squander the opportunity this time, not when it was literally tossed into his hands.

Following his silver haired friend down to the boats, the brunet wondered to himself what just would happen when he asked both his original question tomorrow, along with sharing a paopu fruit... well, after he was squared away in his room for the night and his stomach filled with his mother's wonderful cooking, at any rate. Back to the matter at hand, he closed his window, not wanting to catch a cold before the big days. That done, he turned around and held out a hand, smiling as the familiar of a Keyblade settled into it. It may not have been the Kingdom Key, but then, unless they were specifically different in certain ways, like Jungle King with its spindly little shaft, or Oblivion and the empty one with a chain, or even Fenrir(which didn't need much said about it), most Keyblades weighed similar enough that Sora didn't think anyone would have much trouble adapting to a new version of their weapon, had they the keychains for it.

Sending the older weapon off to storage, Sora proceeded with the last bits of his nightly routine and settled in for a nice, quiet night of sleep...

* * *

"...y'know what. This doesn't even surprise me that much any more. I've seen Roxas' little journey into his heart while in that digital Twilight Town, and I've already been through my own, so why am I back in here!?" the suddenly older young adult grumbled, running a hand through his longer hair and wondering where he got the outfit he normally wore after turning seventeen from. A voice from behind, giggling, made him turn, and come face to face to...

"Hello. It's nice to finally meet you, though I think I'm going to have a second version or more inside here if things go as they did the first time." Sora looked confused at what he was seeing. After all, it wasn't very often that you found a black haired version of the girl you love in your own heart, literally.

"Uh, you're gonna have to pardon me for asking, because you do seem very familiar, but, who are...?"

"No, it's alright. I'm surprised I'm even here, really. But then, maybe I shouldn't be? Lost Memory symbolizes more than one bond, after all. It's a manifestation of all those things you wanted to talk about, or see, or do, but couldn't remember at the crucial moment... or those things that were taken from you, and had to be fought for to get back. Like your memories of Castle Oblivion." Scratching his head, Sora figured that was probably one of the scarier meanings of a Keyblade he had heard. Fenrir, even with its broken look, was more about his bond with Cloud than anything... or that was how he interpreted it, anyway.

There were many ways to take a Keyblade's image if they weren't very specific with their looks and name. Oathkeeper was one of his less ambiguous ones that didn't come from a World, and even then, it had a few different ways to find meaning in it. Oblivion was still a little full of mystery, but it wasn't like he hadn't deciphered when it was strongest(any time he fought alongside Riku), so it was probably one of the least odd. The Kingdom Key... well, that was just one of two, the other being asleep in his friend for when they were so in sync that the _X_-Blade was able to be made. It was definitely a last resort move, though, not to be used lightly, considering that would be how they got to open Kingdom Hearts.

Shaking his head of as yet unnecessary thoughts, Sora focused on the young girl in a very heavily modified Organization XIII cloak, which looked a lot more like a leather dress over a cloth shirt, wondering why she was so familiar, aside from the face and voice being the same as his love's. The smile on her face almost managed to assuage him. "Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you or anything. I'm more like... the tutorial speaker for everything that isn't a Dive to the Heart." She giggled again, and gave a little curtsy after getting over how silly Sora's confused pose and face was. "Call me Xion. It was... It is the name I think suits me best." Taking a little pose, similar to Kairi's idle one, the older boy decided to try walking towards her...

And got a dialog box in his way for the trouble. "What do you want to know?" she asked, smile still in place. Looking from her to the options presented, Sora rubbed his chin before looking back and saying, "When are these little Q&As going to happen after tonight?"

The black haired girl brought a hand up, tapping her jaw before shrugging. "I don't know. Most likely whenever you get something new to read while out in the field, I'll be here in your dreams to talk to you about it. Like these topics, What Are Save Points, What Are Keyblades, and so on. Though, the Keyblade one I only know so much about, so try asking me again at a later date." Xion smiled at Sora, resuming the waiting pose. The brunet figured that he would only be able to ask his questions once, considering the first option, the one he asked for word for word, was now greyed out. Snapping his fingers, Sora nodded suddenly.

"Is there a limit to the amount of questions I can ask?" Xion blinked, and rocked back and forth on her heels a bit in thought. Sora noticed she was barefoot as she did so.

"Actually, yes. You can ask as little as three questions, but only up to five max. After the third, you can choose to say good bye for now." A brief flicker of sadness crossed her eyes. "We'll resume talking after you come across something new." Sora tilted his head a bit, and smiled at Xion.

"Can we just hang out instead of use this place for tutorials sometimes?" The black eyes widened a bit. "After all, if we're gonna be seeing each other more often, why not come here more often. It'd be pretty fun to get to know you, I thi-oof!" Smiling a bit, Sora pat the shorter girl's back as she clung to him. He could feel her trembling even without the arms around his torso, and was pretty sure the wet spots on his shirt were happy tears.


End file.
